By-pass valve structure



P. FOWLER BY-PASS VALVE STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 15.. 1925 I'NVENTOR ATTORNEY Patent ed M ar. 29:, 1927.' I a UNITED STAT r'aunn. rownan, or aroma, wasame'ron nssmxon' Pro an'rirun-rownan'co.

OF SPOKANE W ASHH IGION, A CORPORATION OF WASHINGTON.

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.Appllcatlon filed September 15, 1925. serial' No. 8,566.

'This invention relates to improvements in by-pass valve structures and one of the primary objects is to provide a novel means of controllln circulation of .thejwater in the by-pass pipe of range boilers.

A range boiler, primarily for domestic use, now consists of a tank having a cold water inlet anda hot water'draw-ofi, and

a circulating by-pass pipe with the ends thereof connected near. the upper and lower ends of the tank, respectively.- In order to provide hot water quickly, gas or electric circulating heatersareinterposed in the bypasspipe and are started and turned off in 16 accordance with hot water requirements.

. When the heater is not opera-ting, especially if it is a gas'heater, but also in the case of an electric heater, a very rapid and costly amount of radiation takes place throughout an the length of the by-pass pipe and heaterand the hot water in the tank backs downwardly through the by-pass pi e and heater and is coole and enters the Even if the heater is automatically re lated,

this is true, and the loss is eat,- cause even in practical absence of raw-olffrom' the tank of hot water, the heater is started I to re-heat the water. that has been cooled by back circulation in, the by-pass pipe, and

0 consequently, the consumption of gas or current is needlessly increased should be necessarily used, I

Now it is one of the primary objects of this lnvention to provide means automatically acting to arrest and halt back circulation in the by-pass ipe. after a heaterhas. either been manual y or automatically shut off.

A further object is to automatically open the by-pass pi e for ascension of hot water 40 therein towar the top of the tank just as over whatsoon as the circulation heater has been either manually or automatically started.

The invention will be more fully described g in connection with the accompanying draw-- ing and willbe more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawing Fig. 1, is a view in side elevation of a range boiler with heat insulation in section and showing the boiler equ'plped with a circulation by-pass pipe in whic is interposed a gas "heater, as we 1 as the device of my invention. ig. 2, is a fragmentary view illustrating the adaptability of my invention where an electric circulation heater is used.

ottom of the tank.

' Fig. '3,,is an enlarged sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1, showing-more particularly that ortion of the combination constituting the evice ofmy invention as an article of manufacture, and showing the closure seated. M Fig. 4, is a similar view showing the closure unseated. Fig. 5, is anenlarged sectional view show mg the closure seated and illustrating the loose play resulting from the screw head be-'.- 65, mg in spaced relation strip- I 4 r Like characters of reference designate slmilar parts throughout the different figures of the drawin As shown, is mounted on'a pedestal 2, a-jacketbeing. shown at 3. A cold water supply 'pipe '4, and ahot water draw-oif'pipe 5, are shown connected with the top 6, of the 5 A circulation by-pass ipe consists of upper sections 7 and 8, the atter being connected with tank 1, near the to thereof. Lower sections 9, 10nd 11,0 the by-pass pi are shown with 1 section'9, connected at the bottom12, of tank 1. 'A usual t e of'gas heater 13, having a vent 14, an d a lower open end 15, is provided with the usual coil 16, shown in dotted lines, and this coil is' usuallyfof c pp r because of its known-1 ad- 5 vantages for this purpose. The-lowercon-a volution of coil 16 is connected with section 11, of the by-pass pipe and the upper convolution is connected with section 7, so that as the water is heated, it will ascend in 'section 7, into tank 1, because of'the reduced" weight of hot water with respect to'cool water. As the hot water ascends in section 7, the cooler waterin the bottom of the tank will enter coil 16, in the well knownmanner;

Some of these gas heaters are automatib'ally controlled by thermostatic or other devices. disposed in operative relation to tank 1, to start and stop or reduce the heat, I in accordance with usage of hot water and radiation. Others, are manually controlled. However, in either event, the,copper coil 16, and the entire len th of the by-pass pipe, the latter being usua 1y not insulated, serve uickl .to cool the water contained therein.

he' raft. up the open bottom 15, and through vent pipe 14, greatly hastens the rapidity of radiation. As an inevitable consequence the hot water backs downwardly in the by-pass from the top of tank 1 to the thermostatic 1 t e tank is designated at land} 7 pipe, an

1, and a constant cooling action of this charshown .in Fig. 2, wherein the sections 17 and 18 of the byass are connected-up with an electricfcircu ation heater 19, although the radiation loss'is not quite so great .due to the absence of the copper coil 16. I willnext refer to Figs.'3 and 4, and will x lain the structure and interdependent el ation .of the device of my invention in the combination heretofore set forth.

The device, generally indicated at 20, as shown, consists of a valve casing 21 having internally threaded ends22 and 23, so that the casin can-be interposed in the by-pass in the form shown, I have disosed the valve above and adjacent the heater. The interior of casing 21 is divided by a diaphragm 24, into chambers 25 and 26. This diaphragm has. a flat and substantially downwardly facing valve seat 27, and an opening 28, is centrally disposed with respect to said flat seat. The casing shown, is provided with an inspection plug 29, and a plug 30, which latter serves a useful purpose in assembly of the device. A valve closure is indicated at 31, the same having a flat and substantially upwardly facing seating face 32,. adapted to engage seat 27, to close off passage of water through the valve. Otherwise, the valve closure 31, is free from an connection with casing 21, either in-the orm of a guiding or mechanical connection and hence the closure may be termed a floating closure by reason of the fact that, as wil later appear, its seating and unseating movements are not of a fixed and predetermined order. The valve closure 31, is shown provided with a *pro-' tuberance 33 which is suitably drilled and threaded to take a screw 34.

Reference will next .be made to the means for operating said valveclosure. I

- As shown, said meansconsists of a ther- 'mostatic strip of metal having an interme I diate section 35, an anchoring section 36,

\p and a valve closure section 37. The section 36, isshown anchored to the interior of the 0 -pass pipe at 38, in any desired manner. he section 37, is loosely secured to closure 31, not rigidly, by screw 34-, butso that the closure 31 cannot move or be moved except.

by thermostatic action of the strip, In Fig. 5, I have shown a clearance between the protuberance 33 and the head of screw 34, to afford the required loosev lay. -This strip, while it is formed or re ed in onepiece, ma consist of two pieces of meta one,

designated at 39 having'the higher relative .coe cient ,of expansion, and the other, 40,

having a lower relative coefficient of. expansion. From this disclosure, it will be clear,

that when hot water rises fromthe. heater into chamber 41, the thermostatic strip ,is set and arranged to unseat closure 31 and permit the hot water to freely ascend to tank 1. When thewater in chamber 41 cools, the thermostatic strip will seat closure 31, thereby halting circulation in the bypass pipe and preventing hot water from tank 1, from backing downwardly in the by-pass pipe. Thus it will be seen that the thermostatic strip contracts substantially in the direction of its length to unseat the closure 31, and expands, substantially in the direc-' tion of its lengthto seat said closure. 1t willbe seen that the closure 31', opens substantially downwardly, which is against the gentle upward movement of hot water in the by-pass, but it is understood that the pressure on both sides of closure 31 is so nearly equal that any differential of pressure is nugatory, as far as the practical operation of my invention is concerned. My invention is designed 'to be applied in just such a case. where the diflerence of pressure onopposite sides of the contrclling'valve is not appreciable, in a practical device and could not be determined except with labora- I While the device of my invention, as

shown, is not a non-return valve in form, in 'the sense that it automatically closes as a result of waterfiowing or moving against closure 31, still, infunction, it serves-the purpose of a non-return or check valve.

The screw 34, in practice, is not turned home-tightly, and there will in actual use be suflicient play at-the connection of the c1osure 31 w1th the thermostatic strip to cause the upper-end of the latter to fulcrum agalnst protuberance 33, in closing or seatmg movement so'that the closure 31 will he ab e. to engage the valve seat in an annuis: abutting'contact that will be amply sufficient to arrest the very gentle tendency of cooledwater to back down the by-pass plpe. Itv will be understood that it is not necessary to provide an engaging contact of the closure with the valve seat-such as would render, the seating water tight, as such a slight amount-of leakagev as might occur with a metal to metalvalve fit, under light closing thruSt,-w0uld not amount to anything, hence, I doubt provide any packing gasket between the valve seat and closure. While I have herein shown and described wlsh to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claim may import.

A circulation controlling by-pass valve structure, comgrising, a substantially vertically dispose hot water circulation bypass pipe, a valve intergosed in a vertical portion of said pipe, a oating closure for said valve opening downwardly and closing upwardly therein, and a thermostatic strip in said valve havinf its upper 'end loosely connected with sai closure and its lower one specific form of my invention, I do not I temperature of the latter is end anchored in said pipe, and said thermostatic strip being constructed to lengthwise contract to un-seat said closure downwardly against ascending water when the latter is relatively hot and substantially} lengthwise expand to seat said closure u wardly'ag'ainst descending} water when t e relatively cold, therebypreventing hot water from backing downwardly in said pi In testimony that l elaim the foregoing as my own, I he'reb afiix my si nature.

AUL L. F6WLER. 

